Charlie 37

First dates always make me nervous and despite being thirty five and this being nothing like my first, first date, tonight was no different. It was a little after ten when I pulled up to the bar. It was a cool, overcast and autumnal. The tourists had left for the season even though we were enjoying an unusually warm fall.

"Finn's Bar" was built on stilts into the harbor with a wrap around deck and bar that made extremely popular in the summer. But this time of year it was practically empty. I was thirty minutes early, hoping to get a table and a beer before Charlie showed up.

I still couldn't believe this was happening. Firstly, until about ten hours ago, I'd just assumed she was married. Although she didn't wear a ring, none of the staff wore any jewelry, I'd seen her boys in the store, and I'd occasionally seen her getting dropped off at the store. She worked at my favorite sandwich store "Lynn's", and since I'd moved to Bass Harbor a little over a year ago I'd become a regular.

She was a petite 5'2 brunette, who looked like she was no stranger at the gym, but she was out of place at Lynn's. For a start she was in her thirties which made her at least a decade older than the rest of the girls behind the counter. Secondly, despite wearing the same uniform of jeans, a gray long-sleeved t-shirt covered with a purple regular tee and purple baseball cap, she was, as my grandmother would have put it "very put together". She wore just enough make up, she was always tucked in, neat and controlled. The effect made her look more like a librarian in fast food cosplay, than a senior shift leader at Lynn's Sandwich and Pizza. Finally, she seemed smart. Her conversation never strayed beyond the normal, "Where are you from?", "How are your kids?", but it was clear that she actually cared. So when she'd asked me "So what are we doing this evening?" it had taken a couple of blinks to register?

"Excuse me?" I'd stammered

"Where are you taking me this evening?" she dropped her default broad smile and it was replaced by gentle, slightly nervous eye contact.

"I thought that's what you said. Errr..." caught off guard I was struggling to remember where I was, never mind suitable places to take a woman on a date in Bass Harbor.

"How about Finn's? I'm pretty sure I've seen you in there a couple of times."

"You have? Weird, I'm sure I'd have spotted you." and it was true I had an excellent memory for faces, although my ability to match faces to names was definitely lacking.

"It's a busy bar, plus I don't usually look like this." and she gestured to her uniform and oddly her face. "So, are we doing this? I have hungry customers waiting?"

Still confused I managed to get out "But you hardly know me."

"That's part of the reason I'm asking you out. But what I do know is that you're polite, you are good with your kids and you have a cute accent that I'm pretty sure I could listen to all day" Mark one up to being British I thought to myself.

"Then, absolutely!" figuring now was as good a time as any to sound as British as possible. "What time?"

"My ex has the boys and I finish up here a little after ten. How's ten thirty?"

I instinctively looked at my watch, then realized that I haven't worn a watch since the last watch I bought broke shortly after I'd bought my first cellphone. I told myself to relax, took a breath and met her eyes.

"That would be delightful" and with that her slightly worried, and mildly frustrated expression was replaced with her amazing smile.

Now at a little after ten, here I was, strolling towards a bar I knew well to meet a woman who I barely knew at all. As I approached the entrance I was surprised to see Charlie walking towards the bar with purpose. She still had her uniform on, but her head was down and she was carrying a large backpack. From a distance I thought the steam coming off her was just the condensation from the cool air, but then I realized it wasn't that cold. As she got closer I saw the glow of her cigarette as she inhaled deeply. It was about then that she noticed me.

"Hey!" she exhaled a plume of blue smoke and waved the hand holding the cigarette. I waved back, figuring I'd wait until I didn't have to shout. In the time it took her to close the distance she took a last drag of her cigarette, stamped it out without missing a stride and opened her arms to greet me.

"Hey, yourself!" I replied, and was very relieved that she had taken the body language initiative. One of the many aspects of American culture that I just hadn't figured out was when you were supposed to shake hands, kiss or hug. It was clear that Charlie was a hugger. As she pulled me in I became very aware of our height difference, I'm a little over six feet, and the smell of tobacco which took me back to dating smokers in the nineties. My ex-wife, much like myself, had never been a smoker. I was surprised by how much I was comforted by the smell.

"You're early" and she replaced her smile with a mock frown.

"Aren't I supposed to be early."

"Yes. But not this early. I'd planned to get changed and then make a grand re-entrance a little after 10:30." she smiled and we both laughed. "I guess the grand re-entrance is a bust, but would you mind if I disappear for about 20 minutes and get ready?"

"Not at all, but don't feel you have to."

"I have to. I love Lynn's they've been good to me, especially the last couple of months, but at the end of a shift I have to get out of this as quickly as possible. Lets head in, you get us a table by the water and order the chicken tenders. And by the time they arrive I'll be back." We did just that, except I also ordered a beer.

I sipped my beer, admired the view over the water, and stared at my phone for the whilst I waited for the food and my date. Our food arrived after fifteen minutes. The tenders looked really good. I waited another five minutes before I eventually caved and reached to get one.

"And I thought all Englishmen were gentleman." Charlie had approached from behind. I stood to meet her, an English habit that had been drilled in to me since I'd started school. As I turned to face her my jaw literally dropped. The jeans and t-shirt has been replaced by a black, halterneck dress. Beyond confirming that Charlie really must go to the gym very frequently as her arms and legs were incredibly toned, and you could just about see the outline of her stomach muscles though the tight dress I began to realize why I'd hadn't spotted her at the bar before. Charlie was heavily tattooed and pierced.

The first thing I noticed was her chest which was adorned with a large, brightly colored flowers, a theme that seamlessly flowed down both of her arms just past her elbow. Realizing I was staring with my mouth open I started to say something, but Charlie beat me to it with "What do you think?" and she gave me a perfectly executed twirl, which revealed that her back was entirely covered with flowers with the intricate and beautiful design just peeking out below the seam of her dress that finished just above her knees. Both calves were also tattooed with long stem flowers, but her feet and shins, like her neck and forearms free from ink.

"Wow!" I exclaimed a little lost for words.

"You like the dress?" She looked happy. "I got my eldest to drop it off this afternoon." With a strain I managed to make eye contact. Not knowing if it was rude to mention her tattoos, I was grateful for the out.

"The dress fits like a glove." and making sure I had her gaze "You look beautiful."

"Why thank you!" and I pulled her chair back and helped her to her seat.

"Plus it really shows off my tattoos." I nodded, a little embarrassed. Tattoos had never been my thing. I wasn't against tattoos, I just couldn't ever imagine making such a permanent change to my body, but I had to admit, Charlie's tattoos were outstanding. Now that the shock had worn off I realized that the flowers were incredibly detailed, somewhere between a scientific field manual and a watercolor painting, and that in addition to the overall floral theme there was an abundance of small creatures, ranging from squirrels and small mammals and birds to ladybugs and even a few spiders.

"Shit. You don't like tattoos." I guess I'd taken a little too long to say something.

"No! No!" I rushed to reassure her "I just didn't realize you had tattoos." and then "In fact I thought you were more the bookish, librarian type." This made her laugh.

"Well I do like to read, but I don't think librarian was ever on my cards." she paused to get her cigarettes out of her clutch. It was then I realized that she was no longer carrying her backpack. "Do you mind if I smoke?"

The question was clearly rhetorical as she was already bringing a lit lighter to the end of her cigarette. The light from the flame danced off her face and the extent of her piercings was made clear. She wore three small diamonds in her bottom lip, one in her philtrum, one in each nostril and what I initially thought was one large ring, but later found out were five smaller rings stacked together in her septum. The jewelry was clearly expensive and well made, subtle even, despite there being so much. As she took the first deep drag of her cigarette the jewels in her cheeks sparkled in the candlelight. The effect was mesmerizing.

She exhaled slowly through her nose, the cigarette held dangling from her raised right hand that was she supported at the elbow by holding her left arm that crossed her front. Her thumb nail gently caressing her middle finger.

"Your tattoos are stunning, I just had no idea. Same for your piercings, and that you smoked."

"I guess you really haven't seen me outside the store." she paused to take another drag on her cigarette. "If anything this is refreshing. At least I know you're not here because of my mods."

I managed to stop myself from saying "The opposite.", instead I said "I'm here because I thought you were smart, beautiful" and then pausing to give her a dirty grin "and you make some of the best sandwiches in the northeast."

"Ha! So the way to your heart is through you stomach! Typical man."

"Guilty as charged." and I rubbed my belly.

From there we chatted for next hour. Charlie was just out of a 18 year marriage to the man that got her pregnant at 15. By all accounts her ex-sounded like a decent guy. He'd also only been 15 when she'd gotten pregnant, and had dropped out of school once the baby had arrived and gotten a job first washing dishes, then later construction and more recently joinery. They'd tried to make a go of it, getting married at 18 and having their second child that same year, but five years in it was clear that the only thing keeping them together was a love of their kids and the financial strain of living on two minimum wage jobs plus tips.

I'd been shocked to find out that Charlie had been 100lbs overweight at that point. Between the pregnancies, access to free sandwiches and the ever constant anguish of knowing you are in a loveless marriage she'd looked in the mirror one day and just broken down. That's when she found spinning. Growing up in Bass Harbor, and working at Lynn's, she knew pretty much everyone, including the owner of the spin class over the street from Lynn's. She'd been hooked from the first class. Within 6 months she was down 80lbs. Within a year she was keeping up with the instructor. That's when two things had happened. She'd started training to become a spin coach and also started to get tattooed. To her great surprise that rekindled some of the spark with her husband, but it was short lived. She'd gotten pregnant for the third time, and this time decided to terminate. That was when they both realized that it really was over and agreed to start seeing other people. The only rule being that the kids couldn't find out.

She continued to teach spin and used the extra money to buy tattoos from an artist she really admired, rather than an artist she could afford. She even dated her artist for a couple of months, but it hadn't worked out. Apparently that's when she got the chest tattoo and one of her sleeves and started getting piercings. Then, six months ago, the inevitable happened, her husband had met someone and fallen in love. She was pregnant and he wanted a divorce.

At midnight Charlies phone started to buzz.

"Fuck!" with a look of mild consternation.

"Whats wrong?"

"Its midnight."

"You're right."

"Look, I've got a busy day tomorrow. Spin class at 6:30am then Lynn's till 4."

"I understand. Would you like a like home?", she did. As I paid the check I became acutely aware of how little I wanted the evening to end. Charlie was special and as we left the bar, she held my hand. I felt like a kid again and had a big stupid grin on my face. This smart, beautiful, tattooed woman thought was letting the world now that, at least for tonight I was with her. I looked down, and realized she was smiling too.

When we reached my beat up, but beloved '96 F150 truck I really didn't want to let her hand go, but not wanting to force my luck, I did and reached up to open the truck door for her. As I did, she placed a hand on my arm. I turned to face her to see what was wrong, and found her moving in to kiss me.

Her lips were soft, there was an initially overwhelming taste of tobacco that quickly subsided and I picked up the hints of cherry from her lip balm. She was intoxicating. I pulled back a little to make sure she was just as into me and saw a fire in her eyes that let me know we were on the same page. I pulled her closer with my left arm and as I did so she closed her eyes and opened her mouth slightly. I held her tightly against my body and kissed her deeply. As out tongues met and started to explore each other there was a sudden 'click' and Charlie pulled away taking a couple of steps backwards and holding her mouth.

"Are you OK? What happened?" I was confused and rushed to see what was wrong. She quickly dropped her hand and stuck out her tongue, revealing two metal barbels in the center.

"Tongue studs. I guess I should have warned you." and then the fire was back in her eyes and she actually jumped into my arms. I caught her, and was relieved to find I could carry her easily. I'd never kissed someone with a tongue stud before, never mind two. At first I focused on keeping my teeth out of the way, quickly figuring out this added complication. Eventually, my tongue started to find the piercings. The sensation of the hard metal against my tongue was electric. The kiss got deeper, our noses started to touch and I could feel her nose stud against my nostril and the septum rings on my upper lip. It was amazing. I'd always enjoyed kissing but it had been many years since it had felt this new, this exciting. As we found our rhythm I could feel the bars of her lip studs through her the flesh of her lip and risked sucking on it. Charlie purred, then pulled away.

"OK." She stopped to catch her breath. "OK." she repeated and pulled her hair behind her ears, revealing a row of rings running up to the top of her ear and for reasons I don't understand my cock suddenly swelled and I felt my IQ dropping. "I wasn't going to do this but... your place."

"I wasn't going to let you do this... but absolutely".

It was a short drive to my house we sat in silence as Charlie smoked and held my hand. Five minutes later we were pulling in to the driveway of my three-quarter cape. Which looked deceptively small from the street, but had been extended to over three-thousand square-feet over its hundred year history. If there was anything lucky about my divorce its that it happened whilst I was changing job so had a signing bonus available, and at the bottom of the housing bubble.

"This is your house?"

I was a little confused. "Yes?"

"All of it?"

"Yes." I took her hand and lead her inside into the kitchen. I'd dropped the kids off at their mom's a couple of days ago and the cleaners had been since then so everything was very clean and tidy, but it was still clearly the house of a single dad. I'd had plans to put up pictures of me and the kids, to buy cushions for the sofa, to have more than just three sets of plates, cups and cutlery but I just hadn't found the energy to actually do it. What I'd done instead is build out workshop in what used to be a double garage.

Now it was Charlie's time to be surprised.

"Are you rich?"

"I mean, I guess that depends on what you mean by rich."

"I thought you were blue collar. You're always covered in saw dust. You drive a beat up old truck."

"Hey, be nice. Rosie has feelings too." I watched her taking in my house. This wasn't the conversation I was expecting. I was expecting to have to deflect criticism for my complete lack of an aesthetic. This was the first time I'd seen Charlie in anything brighter than street lighting. Her tattoos were incredible. The light glinting off her jewelry. Her long hair, bouncing off the middle of her back as she walked around the island.

"What do you do?"

"I write software."

"Who for? The mob?", I laughed.

"No, for Banco Roja, the investment wing of Sanmarco"

"Huh." satisfied with my answer she made her way back to me, placed a hand on my should and purred "So are you going to fuck me or not?" I pulled her and kissed her deeply, her piercings bringing my cock to attention almost instantly. Charlie was close enough to feel it grow and started kneed it gently with her hip, a fine trick. I moved my hands to her ass and grabbed it, and she took it for what it was, an invitation to jump into my arms. We continued to kiss as I navigated through the lounge and towards the front room.

"Where are you taking me?"

"Upstairs, to my room."

"Where are we now?"

I deftly avoided a couple of hot wheels my son had left out and answered "Hmmmm, I guess you'd either call it the front room or the fireplace room."

"You have a fireplace?"

"I have a fireplace and a sheep skin rug."

"Do me on it"

Charlie was light, but I hadn't been looking forward to climbing the stairs whilst carrying her. I called out "Alexa, start fire, medium", the blue glow of my Amazon Alexa filled the room, followed by the whoosh of the gas fire coming to life. The room started to glow with the orange light of the fire, lay Charlie gently on the rug and I started to take off my clothes. As I was struggling with my belt Charlie sat up, tweaked something behind her neck, wiggled a little and then pulled her dress over her head leaving her completely naked. In the flickering light of the fire I couldn't make out the details but it was clear that what I thought was a chest tattoo actually covered her entire torso. Still sitting she took what I'd previously thought was a bracelet and used it to quickly put her hair into a loose bun, then leaned forward and deftly undid my belt and zipper. My ever growing cock released Charlie gently ran her tongue studs along its base. When she reached the tip she expertly embraced it with her lips, whilst gently flicking the tip with her tongue, sucking gently. Then she consumed my shaft. I could actually feel her lip studs against my balls and the tip of my penis passed her tonsils. She pulled her head back, her lips never losing the seal on my cock, her tongue studs weaving up my shaft and her cheek studs massaging the sides. Only when she'd pulled all the way back did she open her mouth and take a breath. She repeated this and on the third time I felt compelled to hold her head against my balls. She didn't resist, in fact I felt her smile and she gently rattled my cock against the side of her throat and found that I was holding her by her fully pierced ears and my cock instant came to full attention. There was just something about the feeling of all those rings against my fingers.

Charlie then pulled back and lay on the rug opening her legs to me. I dived towards her pussy only to find that it too was heavily pierced. Her outer labia sported four rings each, and she had a vertical clitoral hood. Much like her earrings, her labia drove me wild, the light clinking as they rubbed against each other as I buried my face in her pussy. Round and round, her clitoris, round and round, I felt her getting wetter and wetter. Charlie then pulled my head up to hers by my ear lobes, kissed me then growled in my ear "Fuck me until I tell you to stop!"